Jogger mechanism-signatures delivered to stacking mechanism individually



Feb. 16, 1960 H. w..FAEBER JOGGER MECHANISM SIGNATURES DELIVERED 'ro STACKING MECHANISM INDIVIDUALLY Filed Dec. 13, 1955 .R m ME A F V mw Y R R A H ATTOPNEYC V oscillating chute and the pair of driven ca retaining rnember s' whichf serveas'ajg l erh t s na ur "thereofm r v Referrrng'to the'drawing;

Harry W. Faeber, Larchmont, N. assignor to grail-pointed, New York, 'N.Y.,' a corporation of New Application nee amber 13; 195 386211; 552,891

'11 Claims. c1. 271 -37 This invention relatesto adelivryfiiie'chanifsm which receives printed sheets or folded signatures one by one and assembles them side by side in upright fashion'ona moving conveyor.

In the mechanismof the [present invention, :a driven carrier having pocket r'qmnn lieang; the reon is stationed adjacent each's ide of a moving conveyorpat receiving end thereof. The sheets or 'signa tu'resto be assernbled 7 9 he c c -f a s i rpl h rv je l mqun cillatmg chute, and they are dischargedfrorn thejchute in the direction of the rno ving conveyor. Th piv Qtal ly in t m d r onsh fl ha i r th; wa

91 6. offtherqcke s h p r e ,T es 'et h 'f r i ur ej 's r ce ve 1 ..;'a ck t g h a t er f sj a v i ;theld rqc qn"Qt m yerne t Q u'ntil the side edges of the sheet or i yanced between, and beyond yieldable she last .Srhee .Qr. s gnature t succeeding signatures tolbe. aSSerjnbled-v. i r

I Thepresent ,inyention', therefore, servesas'ia feiy ef- 'fective and r positive fr'nea ns 1 of continuously ldeliveri ng sheets or signatures; one at agtime in rap d succession, to a mov1ng conveyor, and assembling their); in up'right fa shion on the moving conveyor without obstructions or pile Fora complete the invje ht iosn,

referencemay be had to;the detailed description whichv follows andv to. 'the accompanying drawingijin ,whibh,:,

c "Figured is a perspective view of the meehanisrn'or the present invention; and

folded signatures are delivered o n into the upper bell-'mouthf end lot a e chute '10, The

signature is [guided into thev receivlng endf'of thejchute 10 between pairs \of upwardlyi disposed stripp'eri guides ,11 which are. mounted 7 on"thefjhorizontalfshafts' 12; and 13 011} opposite sidesfof the chutel, suspendedlfrom the shaftllfifbythej brackets 1.4 an {15 j which are pivotedrongthe,

"The chute 10.;1s

I I u s shaft'f13 andattached to the front-wall of thevchut e 510 A ra f ate e h s ed v .on opposite 1 sides ,of the. chute between, the h Z tally disposed shaft gsuppjorting 'rnernb'ers 18 and' l9,

thes'rotatable,shafts lfi and117, and v the fl'OIlllgIidhaek V lw ll t e sh n-.1 a e 'rg id d w hj -t n mit the rotating feed rolls 24 to engage and feedzthe ,sheets or signaturespassingJhrough, the guide chute '10.

51s advanced past them they"close behindthe signature,

' Theiower end lof thechute..llllis ladaptedftofb ltric cam member mounted on a rotating driven shaft 16 and i7, "at; I

- reins 10 the upper end of a vertically disposed shaft 34, a bevel fge ar mounted at the lower end of the shaft 34, and 'a bevel gear 13d aflixed to the shaft 17. Thev Shaft 16 is driven from the shaft L17 by'the engagement of a gear Q Qmountedjat one extreme end'of the shaft 16 with a 15 *geafsv mounted on the "shaft 17.

It is noted that the drive transmitting shaft 34 and the fe'ed roll supportin gis' hafts 16,17 are mounted to and To "llate with the pivotal chute 10. For example, the 1v rt lly di Spo 'sed 'sh aft34 is supported in horizontally posea arir ijslSg of the bracket 15. The drive arrangem'e'nt'described above permits the feed rolls 24, which ,are mounted in fixed relationto the lower oscillating end he pivotally suspended chute 10, to be driven conoilsly during the oscillating movement of I the chute. is is po ssible, of; course, by virtue of the fact that the is transmitted via the pivot shaft-13 from which usp ded by' the bevel gear 31'. u ignature passrng throu h he oscillating chute lti harged from; the lower end thereofjand the side es nature are guided intoj the gaps between ,of P r o r ors .41 the; rsfb t e v 5 s rvir gas',s e lg natur fe fiiv spqgkb' e1 gears 43, and the' bevel gears 43' jryd' posite sldes of a lmoving conveyor 47 which passes lia roiind;theflrotating roller48 atjits receiving end. The "signatures are received on theupper span of the'con-' veyor 4 7,,and they .,are transported thereby toward the di c'harge v Iend, the signatures being assembled thereon 45";side"by, Side infup riight fashion with the loweredges vthereof being in registered contact with the upper surr if acej of the conveyor. The leadingsignaturefin the s tacltfed,ar '1?ay,[is supported in upstanding position by; a

retainer arm" 49i'which" is urged, for example, Ibyj a mun V 5 fer-weight in the direction of the receiving end of the conveyor, .but yieldstoward the discharge end thereof un; ,ider fthe i n fluncelfof the, incoming signatures deliyered onveyor, Aflyieldingretaining arm of this'rtype trsi sho rilinvmy. depending application, Serial No. 547,936

ltlovgember 21,195, now US. Patent No. 2,853,298.

mentionedabove, thesignatures are delivered to the fixed support, an'dthe upstream ends 53, thereof arefree and are received ingrooyes,54 inthe rotorsdd, 41. ,The .7 1 rear'n ends of the spring members 52 cum e I enithie r nd w t e si na u thereby serving asYagate to prevent the signature from .tli Iower'e'nd of the chute by means of an arm 7 ,o prsjr tfl, fla efm ted On rt eal fdi' 5 fts4Z- which rotate"inppposite directionsIin The lower ends of the, vertically disposed gears ,144.mounted at both ends of a thfbearirigtrotors 43, 4 1 are situated adjacent 5 torsflt), 41 the side edges thereof interposedtin' th e pock et for rning gapsbetween the teeth. 59,- and the lIIQtaf iOI IQQf-JQIIC rotors advancevthe signature between t 0' and beyondthe-retainer or latch members 5-1 which are [mounted to yieldingspring members 52. Thedo wm 1 streaunends ofthe spring members 52 are mounted to a di ly yield outwardly as the sigrrafalling backwardly and interfering with succeeding signa-' tures to be assembled.

Thus, summarizing the operation of the present invention, signatures are delivered one at a time into the upper bell-mouth receiving end of the oscillating chute 10, and they are discharged from the lower end thereof into the pockets or gaps formed between the teeth 50 of the rotors 40, 41. The feed rolls 24 assist in conveying the signature downwardly toward the moving conveyor 47. The lower end of the oscillating chute moves in timed relation to the rotation of the rotors 40, 41 so that during the forward oscillation of the chute the lower discharge end thereof is in substantial alignment with the pockets or gaps between the teeth of the rotors into which the signature is to be delivered. The rotors receive the signatures one by one and advance them forwardly and positively to the retainers 51 which yield outwardly as the signature moves between them but close behind the signature to prevent it from falling backwardly on the conveyor.

It is to be noted that various vibrating and jogging devices, as well as moving side belts adjacent the conveyor 47, may be employed to facilitate the assembly of the signatures on the moving belt. These devices are shown and described in my above mentioned co-pending application.

It may be noted that the forward surfaces of the teeth 50 which engage and advance the signatures are curved so that the signature will not be injured as the teeth slide outwardly against the back of the signature toward the edges thereof just prior to the point at which the teeth lose contact with the signatures. Rotor teeth of other forms and shapes may, of course, be employed. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, the rotorsv may be replaced entirely by flexible belts 56 adapted to travel in orbital paths around the gears 58. The belt in the form shown is provided with fins or teeth 57 projecting outwardly from the belt which perform the same function as the teeth 59 of the rotors 40, 41. Since it is important that the teeth move in predetermined timed relationship with the oscillating chute 10, the inner surface of the belt is formed with teeth 59 which interlock with notches on the gears 58, thus avoiding undesirable slippage between the belts and the gears which could destroy the timed relationship between the travel of the belts and the movement of the discharge end of the chute 10.

The invention has been shown in preferred forms and by way of example only, and obviously many modifica-.

tions and variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. The invention, therefore, is not to be limited to any specified form or embodiment, except insofar as such limitations are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim: 7

l. A delivery mechanism for receiving sheets one by one and assembling them side by side on a moving conveyor, comprising a pair of carriers driven in synchronism and having pocket forming means thereon, said carriers being disposed on each side of the receiving end of the moving conveyor and said pocket forming means of the carriers advancing a sheet delivered thereto, an oscillatory guide means for directing a sheet edge-wise into a pocket formed by said pocket forming means, and means for imparting a predetermined oscillatory movement to the guide means to oscillate the guide means in timed relationship with the movement of said carriers.

2. A delivery mechanism for receiving sheets one by one and assembling them side by side on a moving conveyor, comprising a pair of tooth bearing carriers driven in synchronism, said carriers being disposed on each side of the receiving end of the moving conveyor, the teeth of said carriers being spaced apart from each other to form sheet receiving gaps therebetween and said teeth of said bearing carriers for receiving the sheets carriers engaging asheet delivered thereto near the side edges and thereby advancing the sheet, an oscillatory guide chute for guiding a sheet into the gaps between the teeth of said carriers, and means for imparting oscillatory movement to the guide chute such that the guide chute moves in synchronism with the tooth bearing carriers during the stroke of the guide chute in the same direction as the movement of the tooth bearing carriers.

3.'A delivery mechanism as set forth in claim 2 wherein the tooth bearing carriers comprise rotating gears.

4. A delivery mechanism as set forth in claim 2 wherein the tooth bearing carriers comprise belts moving in an orbital path and having'teeth formed at spaced intervals along the belt.

5. A delivery mechanism as set forth in claim 2 including a pair of yieldable sheet retaining members disposed in the vicinity of the receiving end of the conveyor to prevent retrograde movement of a sheet advanced by the tooth bearing carriers beyond the sheet retaining members.

6. A delivery mechanism for receiving sheets one by one and assembling them side by side on a moving conveyor, comprising a pair of tooth bearing carriers driven in synchronism, said carriers being disposed on each side of the receiving end of the moving conveyor, the teeth of said carriers being spaced apart from each other to zorm sheet receiving gaps therebetween, said teeth engaging a sheet delivered to the gap near the side edges thereof and advancing the sheet in upstanding position, a pivotal oscillating chute for guiding sheets into the gaps formed .between the teeth of said carriers, and means for imparting a predetermined oscillatory movement to the oscillating chute such that the guide chute completes one oscillation in substantially the same period of time that g the tooth bearing carriers advance the distance from one engage the sheet passing through the chute.

. 8. A delivery mechanism as set forth in claim'7 including a shaft for supporting the chute for pivotal oscillation thereon, and a drive transmission for driving the feed rolls, said drive transmission being driven by driving means carried on said shaft, and means for mounting at least part of the drive transmission to the oscillating chute.

9. A delivery mechanism for receiving sheets one by one and assembling them side by side on a moving conveyor, comprising a pair of endless tooth bearing carriers driven in synchronism, said carriers being disposed on each side of the receiving end of the moving conveyor, the teeth of said carriers being spaced apart from each other to form gaps therebetween, said teeth engaging the side edges of a sheet delivered to said gaps and advancing the sheet in upstanding position, a guide chute mounted above the tooth bearing carriers, the sheets being received one by one into the receiving end of the chute and being discharged from the other end of the chute into the gaps between the teeth of said carriers, a shaft from which the guide chute is pivoted, means for imparting oscillatory motion to the lower end of the chute, moving the .lower discharge end of the chute in timed relation to the moving carriers, such that the number of complete oscillations of the guide chute equals the number of gaps formed on one of the tooth bearing carriers during each complete revolution of the tooth bearing carrier and sheet retaining means spaced at the receiving end of the conveyor and ahead of the tooth advanced by the carriers.

10. A sheet feeding mechanism comprising a horizontally moving conveyor on which sheets are assembled .side-by-side, an oscillatory gui'cle :chut emounted above the horizontally moving conveyonsaid guide chute having' a relatively long passage of slot-likeconfiguration formed therethrough, said passagehavin'g an upper inlet end and T .a lower discharge end, means for imparting oscillatory motion to the guide chute to move vthe lower end of the chute in the direction of travel of the conveyor during one stroke thereof and in a direction of travel opposite to the direction of travel of the conveyor during the reverse stroke. thereof, means for, feeding sheets to the inlet end of the guide chute in timed relationship to the oscillatory motion of the guide chute to insure that the sheets will be delivered from the discharge end of the guide chute to the conveyor on the stroke during which the lower end of the guide chuteis moving in the same direction as the conveyor, and means on opposite sides of the horizontally moving conveyor defining sidewalls between which the sheets are discharged from the oscillatory guide chute and registered. Y

11. A sheet feeding mechanism as set torth in claim 1 02wherein each of said meansdefining side walls is r driven in an orbital path, and including pocket-forming,

means carried by each side wall means, whereby the .side. edge: of a sheet-discharged from the guide chute is introduced into said pocket means. 7 7

UNITED STATES 'P'ATENTS. 7 References-Cited in thje: file of this patent 336,881" Mathison -Q. Feb; 23, 1886 v 524,288 Teal Aug. 7, 1894 1,685,945 J Drake Oct. 2, 1928 1,991,411 Novick Feb. 19, 2,251,221 Cleven July 29, 1941 2,680,510 Donath June 8, 1954 2,841,074 Schechter July 1, 195 8 FOREIGN PATENTS 617,222

Germany Aug. 15, 

